To Plan and Gamble
by Lady Psychic
Summary: [One shot, Cheershipping] It's Joey's birthday, and both Duke and Serenity are there. Can Duke come up with a plan so that he and Serenity can be alone?


_A/N: Well, here's another story for the contest I'm in. This time, the pairing will be Cheershipping (Duke x Serenity). This story will be a lot more fluffy than my last two fics. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters._

**To Plan and Gamble**

It was Joey's birthday, and his friends decided to have a picnic in the park to celebrate. Among the guests was Duke Devlin, who was casually drinking a soda while everyone else was chatting with each other. However, Duke wasn't interested in the chatter around him. Instead, he had his sights on Joey's younger sister, Serenity.

Duke was quite happy when he found out that Serenity was going to be at the party. It had been a while since he had last seen her. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be easy to get some alone time with the girl. After all, the birthday boy was the girl's overprotective brother. Joey would most likely get pissed if Duke tried to make a move on Serenity. There was also Tristen to contend with. Since they both had a crush on Joey's sister, Duke was sure that the other would probably interfere in any attempts to court the girl.

If the dice master was ever going to be able to flirt with Serenity without any interference, he was going to need a plan.

So, he now found himself sitting on a picnic bench while the birthday boy was eagerly opening his presents. Serenity was standing next to her brother, and she gave a bright smile as the presents were opened one by one. Joey's first gift was from Yugi, which consisted of some new cards that would beef up his deck. His second gift was several porno magazines from Tristen. As soon as he realized what they were, Joey promptly hid them from his sister's gaze and gave Tristen an evil glare. Then, he opened Tea's present which was a plush toy version of the Flame Swordsman. After thanking her for the gift, he opened Duke's present next. Joey had no idea what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised when he saw a well crafted statue of the Red-eyes Black Dragon. Finally, he opened Serenity's gift and saw a framed picture of him and his sister together that was taken some time before their parents' divorce. A sad smile formed on the blond duelist's face, and he turned to give his sister a hug.

Then, Joey realized that there was one more present on the picnic table. Out of curiosity, he opened it and saw what appeared to be a collar with a golden nametag. His eyes narrowed when he saw his name engraved on the nametag, and he began to growl when he turned the tag over and saw the words "Property of Kaiba Corp." written on the back. After rummaging through the wrapping paper, he eventually found a card that said "To: Mutt, From: Kaiba" on it.

"That jerk!" shouted Joey. "How dare he do something like this!"

"Calm down Joey," said Yugi, "It is probably just a mistake or something."

'Yeah, right,' thought Joey, as he turned to his sister. "Look, I have to go teach that Kaiba prick a lesson, and it's not going to be a pretty sight. I want you to stay here until I get back, okay?"

"Alright," answered Serenity, "I will. Please be careful."

Her brother gave a cocky smile and said, "Don't worry. I'll beat that bastard's ass and will be back before you know it." Then Joey turned and began to run in the direction of the Kaiba Corp. Headquarters. Tristen, who also wanted to teach Kaiba a lesson for insulting his friend, quickly followed. Yugi and Tea soon started running after the other two in an attempt to keep their friends from getting into trouble.

Serenity stared worriedly in the direction that her brother had gone. Suddenly, she felt a hand touch her shoulder, and looked to see Duke staring at her. The dice master gave her a reassuring smile and said, "I wouldn't worry too much. Your brother can take care of himself."

"I guess you're right," replied the girl.

Then, Duke gently grabbed her hand and said, "Well, why don't we take your mind off things. There is an ice cream parlor not too far from here. Let's go get some ice cream while we wait for Joey and the others to return." Serenity nodded in agreement and followed Duke as he led the way.

A few minutes later, they both re-entered the park carrying ice cream cones in their hands. They walked around the park for a while as they licked their vanilla ice cream. Eventually, they came back to the picnic bench where Joey's birthday gifts lay abandoned. Serenity gave a sigh of relief when see saw that all of the gifts were still there. The only one that was missing was the dog collar which Joey took with him for his confrontation with Kaiba. After they double checked to make sure that nothing had been taken, Duke and Serenity sat down next to each other on the bench. As the girl continued to eat her ice cream, she blushed when she noticed that the dice master was looking at her. Then, after she was finally finished with her treat, she closed her eyes and rested her head on Duke's shoulder.

Meanwhile, Joey and Tristen had stormed the Kaiba Corp. building and were currently in a heated argument with the security guards. Yugi and Tea tried their best to calm their friends down, but to no avail. Finally, a familiar voice cut through the chaos.

"What's going on?! What are you idiots doing in my building?!"

The group turned around to see Kaiba standing at the other side of the room. Joey growled and shouted, "What do you think, you bastard! After what you did, you're lucky that I don't punch your face in right now!"

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about," replied Kaiba in a monotone voice.

"Well, what about this?!" challenged Joey as he took the collar out of his pocket and dangled it out towards the CEO. Kaiba took a good look at the collar and both sides of the tag. Joey then took out the card that came with the collar and gave to Kaiba to inspect. After a few minutes, the CEO snorted.

"So, what?! I have more important things to do than to give you gag gifts" explained Kaiba. "Besides, I've been working since this morning, and the writing on the card isn't even my handwriting."

Joey thought for a moment then snickered, "Yeah, right. Why should I believe you?"

Before Kaiba could reply, another voice shouted, "He's telling the truth!" Mokuba suddenly appeared from behind his brother, and continued, "I was with him the whole time. Seto has been here all day, and I didn't see him tell anyone to send anything."

"Joey, I think he's telling the truth," stated Yugi. Tea nodded in agreement while Tristen remained skeptical. The blond didn't want to admit it, but if the Kaiba brothers were telling the truth, then the CEO couldn't have sent him that horrible gift. Although Joey was still a bit suspicious of Kaiba, he knew deep down that they weren't lying.

"Now that the situation has been settled, I suggest that you all leave the premises," Kaiba announce coldly to the four friends. Joey growled, but did as he was told. As he, Yugi, Tea, and Tristen all left the building, a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Hey, guys! If Kaiba didn't send the gift, then who did?" The others seemed to be as puzzled as Joey was, but another question popped into his head as they kept walking. "Where's Duke?"

Back at the park, Duke had long since finished his ice cream cone, and Serenity was still resting on his shoulder. As the dice master looked at the girl, he couldn't help but think about how cute she looked. He also couldn't help but feel guilty as well. He knew that the girl didn't get to see her brother very often, but Duke knew that unless he found a way to distract Joey and Tristen he wouldn't be able to spend any quality time alone with Serenity.

So, he bought a collar with a specially made nametag in an effort to create the perfect diversion. Then, he managed to slip in with the other gifts when nobody was looking. Fortunately, his plan seemed to have worked. Still, it was also quite a gamble. If Serenity ever found out that he was responsible for the collar, then he could possibly lose her trust. He was also somewhat worried about what would happen if Joey or Tristen ever found out the truth.

Still, as he felt the girl's hand hold onto his, Duke was sure that it was worth it. Even though it was only a matter of time until the others came back, he would every minute of it with Serenity. No matter what happened next, Duke was glad he made the gamble.

**The End**


End file.
